GRAB EM Field Synth
Electromagnetic Field Synth
Only for iPhone
$3.99 · Designed for iPhone. Not verified for macOS.
iPhone
GRAB uses the magnetometer in your iPhone as an antenna. It receives the electromagnetic noise around you and turns it into sound in real time. Power adapters, motors, displays, Wi-Fi routers — the invisible field they radiate becomes the source material, and you play it the way you would play a field recording. Move to a different room and the instrument sounds different.
SOUND ENGINE
• Five ETHER-inspired layers: mains hum / PWM buzz / static hiss / high squeal / pulse train
• Three sensor-driven synth voices: saw / square / noise
• With the camera on, light falling on the lens drives a tremolo across level and timbre
EFFECTS
• CRUSH — bit crusher with sample-rate reduction
• COMB — comb filter with feedback
• REVERB — multi-tap reverb with shimmer
• STUTTER — BPM-synced gate
• MUTE — momentary kill switch; tap it repeatedly to articulate a tremolo by hand
• HOLD latch on every effect pad, from the button or a second finger
ABLETON LINK
• Automatic tempo sync with Live, Logic and other iOS music apps
• STUTTER locks to the Link tempo at 1/4, 1/8, 1/16 and 1/32
• Uses Ableton's official Link settings panel
• Plays alongside other audio apps rather than interrupting them
VISUALS
• 3D point-cloud frequency spectrum
• Spectrum bar mode
• With the camera on, a grayscale image sits behind the field in depth
WAYS TO PLAY
• A field-sound tool: walk it past appliances and hear the timbre shift
• An atmospheric noise source to drop into a live set
• A platform for experimenting with electromagnetic noise music
PRIVACY
All audio is processed on the device. Nothing is recorded and nothing is sent anywhere. Ableton Link communicates only within your local Wi-Fi network.
Ratings & Reviews
- This app hasn’t received enough ratings or reviews to display an overview.
• Rebuilt the SPECTRUM display. It is now a proper log-frequency analyzer that no longer pins to full scale when you lean on the effects, and it draws as a waveform-style line instead of bars.
• STUTTER now snaps to musical subdivisions, with a beat ladder from 1/4 to 1/64 (triplets included) shown right on the fader.
• Ableton Link is now follow-only. GRAB syncs to the session tempo and never changes it for the other apps.
• The Ableton LINK button now uses the same ○ / ● markers as CAM.
The developer, Hiroya Tanaka, indicated that the app’s privacy practices may include handling of data as described below. For more information, see the developer’s privacy policy .
Data Not Collected
The developer does not collect any data from this app.
Accessibility
The developer has not yet indicated which accessibility features this app supports. Learn More
Information
- Seller
- Hiroya Tanaka
- Size
- 1.9 MB
- Category
- Music
- Compatibility
Requires iOS 17.0 or later.
- iPhone
Requires iOS 17.0 or later. - Mac
Requires macOS 14.0 or later and a Mac with Apple M1 chip or later. - Apple Vision
Requires visionOS 1.0 or later.
- iPhone
- Languages
- English
- Age Rating
4+
- 4+
- Copyright
- © 2026 Hiroya Tanaka
